These guys and their nests are always in the back of my mind when going hiking in the mountains. Around my home in Okazaki we don't see too many of them, but when I visit the inlaws in Tochigi, they are always buzzing around here and there are even signs here and there warning about them.
Bees are interesting, though. We had a number of wasp hives near our place a couple years ago. I told the boys to just leave them alone and we were fine, but then our lovely landlord decided to knock them all down with a stick, without warning us, so when we returned from a walk they were mad and swarming and my kids got stung a few times. For awhile my oldest was terrified of any buzzing thing, but I've slowly gotten him to calm down about it. We found a website that laid out all the different types of bees/wasps/hornets. It called bumble bees the "gentle pandas of bees" and told how they will let you pet them and rarely sting. Now my oldest is always watching for bumble bees and wants to pet them.
Anyway, good write up, m'man. Hope your bee problems around your house are getting better.